A very white wagtail at Davidstow 12th September 2014

I found this very white wagtail this morning on the old airfield at Davidstow.

I'm not sure of it's ID but reckon it could be a white wagatil with partial albinism or leucism as they don't usually have a white head.

I know there are many variants of wagtail so interested to hear people's comments!

Curlew sandpiper at Davidstow this morning. 12th September 2014

Curlew sandpiper 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Curlew sandpiper

I came across this curlew sandpiper feeding with a small group of ringed plover on the old airfield at Davidstow this morning.

The light was good but the bird was busy feeding so didn't keep still for very long.

Curlew sandpiper

Curlew sandpiper

Seals, dolphins and sunfish on the Cornish coast.

Grey seal

A great day on the monthly POLPIP seal survey on the North Cornwall coast from Padstow.

We monitored from the Quies up the coast to just above Boscastle.

Today we saw many seals, numerous seabirds including Gannets, Manx Shearwaters and a Sooty shearwater. Also a  few sunfish, Risso's dolphins and a pod of Common dolphins which came to look at us and put on an amazing display.

My personal thanks to Chris and Annabel for their hospitality aboard Atlantic Diver.

Grey seal

Grey seal

Risso's dolphins

Risso's dolphins

Common dolphins

Common dolphins

Common dolphins

Common dolphins

Common dolphins

Common dolphins

Common dolphins very close to the boat

Sunfish

Sunfish

Risso's dolphins off North Cornwall coast 6th Sept 2014.

Risso's dolphins

What a thrill to see these fabulous marine mammals just a few miles from home!

We were on the lookout for some more common dolphins (see previous post) but came across these in the same spot as earlier in the week.

My apologies for the poor focusing on the one that did a spectacular breach but put it down to the sea conditions! It did get a bit choppy out there for a while.

Thanks once again to Will Delacour our skipper although I'm now on 5 out of 5 for dolphin spotting!

Risso's dolphins breaching

Risso's dolphins breaching

 

Risso's dolphins

Risso's dolphins

Migrant terns in the Camel estuary. 3rd Sept 2014

Sandwich Tern

There were several terns perched on the shellfish floats at the Porthilley end of Rock on the Camel estuary yesterday.

The sandwich terns were easy to ID but the others we'll call "Comic" terns as although I think most were Commons there may well have been Arctic's.

Anyway here are some more images!

"Comic" Tern

"Comic" Tern

 

Sandwich Tern

Sandwich Tern

Common dolphins in Cornwall Sept 3rd 2014

I was lucky enough to have another trip out watching dolphins off the North Cornwall coast yesterday.

My thanks to Will & Pauline for the invitation and I'll try to keep up the 100% record of seeing dolphins on every trip! That's 4 out of 4.

Mind you a GPS certainly has it's value!

There were lots of common dolphins around and many were feeding vigorously often with what looked like sprats jumping clear of the water in front of them.

Great to see, especially "on our doorstep"!

I might get used to this retirement lark!